St. Mary Parish grand jurors returns indictments in 2 murder cases

A St. Mary Parish grand jury returned true bills of indictment in two separate murder cases Thursday afternoon.
The grand jury charged, 15-year-old Kaysha Francis of Bayou Vista and Kirkland Craft, 22, of Morgan City in the Oct. 29 death of Willie Francis whose body was found in a ditch alongside La. 172 in Berwick.
The indictments charge Kaysha Francis with second degree murder. It does not indicate whether there was a blood relationship between her and the victim.
Craft was charged with first degree murder in the same case.
The grand jury also returned a true bill of indictment charging Jazmine Jamal Jackson, 23, of Franklin with first degree murder in the Sept. 30 death of Jarnell McDaniel, 24.
Kaysha Francis told St. Mary Parish sheriff’s detectives that the victim had picked her up and drove her to an unknown location where he made unwanted advances toward her and she then stabbed him in self defense, according to the arrest affidavit filed with the Clerk of Court.
After arresting Francis on Nov. 5, the sheriff’s detectives contacted Craft who told them that he stabbed the victim about 10 times, on the front and back sides, according to the arrest affidavit. He said he did so “in defense of his juvenile girlfriend” according to the arrest affidavit.
Kaysha Francis’ identity had previously not been revealed because of her age.
Jackson was identified as the killer of McDaniel by his mother, according to the arrest affidavit. She said she witnessed Jackson shoot the victim two times in the head with what she described as a semi-automatic gun, the document states.